Grillo to ban Five Star members from Italian talk shows

06/11/2012

Move comes after blasting Salsi for 'G Spot' appearance

Rome, November 6 - Beppe Grillo, the Italian comic
and leader of the rising anti-establishment Five Star Movement
(M5S), said Tuesday he will ban elected members of his party
from appearing on talk shows, days after drawing the ire of
feminists for ridiculing a Bologna councillor for making the
party look bad on national television.
In a "handbook" for elected officials published on his blog
Tuesday, Grillo said it was "strongly ill-advised" to appear on
talk shows, and doing so would be strictly forbidden in the
future.
The move comes a few days after M5S member and Bologna
Councillor Federica Salsi told Italian talk show Ballaro' that
"the problem of democracy (within the M5S) exists".
The following day, Grillo lashed out at Salsi on his blog,
calling the talk show appearance "her G Spot".
"It's the long-awaited 15 minutes of fame that Andy Warhol
predicted," he added.
The post was met with an onslaught of retorts from
feminists, inclulding Salsi herself.
"It's a disappointment," she said. "He's showed himself to
be the victim of the culture of (former Italian premier) Silvio
Berlusconi. It was truly demeaning. He's a sexist like the
rest".
Grillo has set up his Five Star Movement in stark
opposition to the European Union and mainstream Italian
politics, denouncing scandals that have plagued political
parties, including Berlusconi's center-right People of Freedom
party.
Fresh off scoring the most votes in Sicily elections late
last month, the M5S currently polls second in the run-up to
general elections scheduled for April, when Premier Mario
Monti's term at the helm of a technocratic government expires
and the former European commissioner vows he will step down.
The Democratic Party (PD) is currently polling around 27%,
while Berlusconi's PdL has about 15%.